Since we are discussing creating wings where we imagine them, here are some photos of a project I designed and built last month. A railing for my hang gliding club. Designed and built entirely from scratch out of only two materials: Stainless Steel and California Redwood.

This is for a pavilion where pilots watch each other fly and land after jumping off of a 3,500 foot mountain tied to a kite.

After they land, the government requires that they sit behind a railing so as not to fall off the 3 foot high structure. What would we do without them watching out for us?

Anyway it's one of a kind, including an original all stainless steel sculpture. I build things, but this sculpture is the first thing I built that has no function. The railing doesn't really either, but it's government code required.

AHHH See I DIDN'T fall for the "old owl in the second tree--NOT!" ploy. In high school I had a teacher who gave us a test one day. He was adamant that we read the instructions carefully before we took it. The last instruction was to ignore all the questions, sign our name , and turn in the test. Being the little prig that I as I did indeed read all the instructions. I was also the only one to pass the test. I actually took the test up to his desk and asked him if he was sure this was the test he wanted to give. He chuckled , and told me to go back to my desk and lay my head down for the rest of the test. Since this as Kentucky several students didn't even finish so I spent an hour like that. Actually wished I had failed it so I wouldn't have been so bored.

We see what we assume, and not what is. A good exercise in seeing is trying to see negative space.

As an experiment, try drawing a chair, or a vase , anything. On a second sheet of paper draw the space surrounding you're first drawing. Almost always the second picture is better because we aren't looking at the chair, or the vase, we are looking at the negative space around the chair and vase. We have preconceived notions of what "chair" and "vase" look like lodged in our brains. So we try to force our hand to merge the chair or vase we see with the chair or vase in our heads. Leading to a bad drawing.

Another thought experiment is popular with the "whole language" crowd. The one wehre yuro'e gvien a mnalged snteecne and aeskd to raed it. As lnog as the fsirt and lsat ltteers of the words are in the proper places most people can do so quite easily.

Well, I'm one of the ones that bit, but, like edutcher, it seemed perfectly reasonable that you included the 2nd image, Professor, to demonstrate how hard it was to see the owl unless one knew precisely where to look.